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A STUDY 



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George Washington. 




A STUDY 



George Washington. 



WILLIAM S. STRYKER, 

PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI 
IN THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY. 



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READ BEFORE THE SOCIETY AT ITS MEETING AT 
TRENTON, FEBRUARY 22, 1S97. 



TRENTON, N. J. 

Naar, Day <fe Naar, Printers. 
1898. 



A Study of George Washington. 



The study of the life and character of General Washing- 
ton is a pleasant and instructive work to every true Ameri- 
can scholar. To one who loves to search among the records, 
letters, documents and contemporaneous biogi'aphies of the 
Revolutionary period, nothing is more interesting than to 
picture to oneself in strong outlines the grand personality 
of the great commander. It is a most delightful pastime on 
a winter evening, surrounded by a library rich in Ameri- 
cana, to read what has been said of him by officers of his 
own army, by distinguished members of the French contin- 
gent and by the common people — how he appeared to them, 
how he impressed them from the time he drew his sword on 
the common at Cambridge until he bade them farewell at 
the Fraunces Tavern in New York. I shall give j'ou the 
result of my own searches on this line in as brief a sketch as 
possible, and in this way, on his natal day, we will to some 
degree, I trust, form a conception of what manner of man 
he was. 

In a letter from John Adams to his wife, dated June 17, 
1775, we find the following paragraph, descriptive of the 
young soldier who had just been selected to lead the for- 
tunes of the cause of independence : " I can now inform you 
that the Congress have made choice of the modest and vir- 
tuous, the amiable, generous and brave George Washington, 
Esquire, to be General of the American Army." 



4 A Study op George Washington. 

AdJ the next day the same great statesman wrote to El- 
bridge Gerry, " There is something charming to me in the 
conduct of Washington. A gentleman of one of the first 
fortunes upon the continent leaving his delicious retirement, 
his family and friends, sacrificing his ease and hazarding 
all in the cause of his country ! His views are noble and 
disinterested ! " 

After the disastrous battle of Long Island, in August, 
1776, the Abbe Robin said that the men of the American 
Army " were rivals in praising him, fearing him when he 
was silent, and retaining thein full confidence in him after 
defeats and disgrace." 

^ His bravery in conflict is clearly evinced when at Prince- 
ton in 1777 his officers said, "Our arni}- love their General 
very mucb, but they have one thing against him, which is 
the little care he takes of himself in any action." 

The battles of Brandywiue and Germantown had been 
fought, nearly three months of that awful winter at ^'alley 
Forge had slowly passed, the countenance of Washington 
had become more grave and careworn, his stately bearing 
still more dignified, his manner still more reserved, when 
Peter S. Du Ponceau came to America with General the 
Baron von Steuben and gave us, February 23, 1 778, his im- 
pressions of the cliief: " I could not keep my eyes from that 
imposing countenance, — grave, yet not severe! affable with- 
out familiarity ! Its predominant expression was calm dig- 
nity, through which you could trace the strong feelings of 
the patriot and discern the father as well as the commander 
of his soldiers ! I have never seen a picture which repre- 
sents him to me as I saw him at Valley Forge. Perhaps 
that expression was beyond the skill of the painter, but 
while I live it will remain impressed on my memory." 



A Study of (rKOKciE Washington. 5 

The cold of that terrible winter encampment on the 
Sehuylkill had given way to the warmth of June when the 
race began between the British and American forces across 
New Jersey to the plains uf MoiiiiKiiitii. 'Plie night after 
(lie i)attle, the oallant (icncial Lafayette, wiin liad slept by 
the side of General Washington under the same military 
cloak, said of him, "During this allair which ended so well, 
although begun so ill. General Washington appeared to ar- 
rest fortune by one glance, and liis pr6sence of mind, valour 
an<l decision of character were never displaye<l to greater 
advantage than at that moment." 

Later on in the year. Doctor James Thatcher, a Surgeon 
(if Colonel Henry Jackson's Massachusetts Continental regi- 
ment, gives us in his military journal a very graphic 
description of Washington. "The personal appearance of 
our Commander-in-Chief is tiiat of the perfect gentleman 
and accomplished warrioi-. lie is rcmarkiibly tall, full six 
feet, erect and well proportioned. Tlie .strength and pro- 
portion of his muscles appear to be commensurate with pre- 
eminent powers of his mind. The scvei-ity of iiis counte- 
nance and majestic gracefullness of ids (i('|iortnuiit imparl 
a strong impre.ssion of that dignity and grandeur, which 
are his peculiar characteristics, and no one can stand in his 
presence without feeling the ascendency of his mind and 
associating with liis (■ountenance the idea of wisdom, phil- 
antiiropy, magnaiumity and jiati'iotism, 'I'iiere is a tine 
.synnnetry in the features of his fai'c indicatiNc of a licnign 
and dignified spirit." 

And at the close of tiie year .\lajor-( Icncrai tiic Manjuis 
do Ciiastelleux, a noted French officer under tlic Count do 
IvoclKUnhcau, when he, saw the leader of the American 
troops i'oi' the first time .said, " It is not my intention to ex- 



6 A Study of Geobgk Washington. 

aggerate, I' wish onlj' to express the impression General 
Washington has left on vay mind. Brave without temerity, 
generous without prodigality, noble without pride, virtuous 
without serenity ; he seems always to have confined himself 
within tliose limits where the virtues, by clothing them- 
.selves in more lively, but more changeable and doubtful 
colors, may be mistaken for faults. It will be said of him 
at the end of a long civil war he had nothing with which he 
could reproach himself" 

On the 3rd day of May, 1779, .John Bell, Esquire, of 
Maryland, in a letter to the Reverend Doctor Charles Henry 
Wharton, of Worcester, England, says, " General Washing- 
ton is now in the forty-seventh year of his age ; he is tall, 
well-made man, rather larged boned, and has a tolerably 
genteel address; his features are manly and bold, his eyes 
of a bluish cast and very lively ; his hair a deep brown, his 
face rather long, and marked with the small pox ; his com- 
plexion sunburnt and without much colour, and his counte- 
nance sensible, composed and thoughtful : there is a re- 
markable air of dignity about him, with a striking degree 
of gracefulness. * "■ * Candour, sincerity, affability 
and simplicity seem to be the striking features of his char- 
acter, till an occasion offers of displaying the most de- 
termined bravery and independence of spirit." 

Again on November 23, 1780, the Marquis de Chastelleux 
met General Washington at Pomptou in our State, and he 
remarked: "The goodness and benevolence which charac- 
terize him are evident from everything about him ; but the 
confidence he gives birth to never occasions improper fa- 
miliarity ; for the sentiment he inspires has the same origin 
in every individual, a profound esteem for his virtues and a 
high opinion of his talents," 



A Study of George Washington. 7 

On the 10th of January, 1781, the gallant General Na- 
tliauael Greene, second only to Washington in soldierly 
ability in the Continental Army, wrote to Colonel Alexander 
Hamilton, who knew him equally well, — " I always thought 
him exceedingly popular, but in many places he is little 
less than adored, and universally admired. His influence 
in this country might possibly effect something great." 

And again in August of the same year the Abbe Robin, 
Chaplain of the Regiment Soissonnais of the French con- 
tingent, said : " I have seen General Washington, that most 
singular man, the soul and support of one of the greatest 
revolutions that has ever happened or can happen. He is 
of tall and noble stature, well proportioned, a fine, cheerful 
open countenance, a simple and modest carriage. * * * 
In all these extensive States they consider him in the light 
of a beneficient God, dispensing peace and happiness arovind 
him. Old men, women and children press about him 
when he accidentally passes along, and think them- 
selves happy once in their lives to have seen him. The 
Americans are aroused, animated and inflamed at the very 
mention of his name ; and the first songs that sentiment 
or gratitude has dictated have been to celebrate General 
Washington." 

When in September, 1782, the Count de Segur, the Colonel 
of the same French regiment as Chaplain the Abbe Robin, 
gives us in his "Recollections," this description: "His ex- 
terior disclosed, as it were, the history of his life ; simplicity, 
grandeur, dignity, calmness, goodness, firmness, the attrib- 
utes of his character were also stamped upon his features 
and in all his person. His stature was noble and elevated ; 
the expression of his features mild and benevolent; his 



l>*e if} leQ2 



8 A Study of George Washington. 

smile graceful and pleasing, his manners simple, without 
familiarity." 

In these quotations we can, as with the pencil of an artist, 
picture to ourselves the singular majesty of his figure and 
the peculiar expression of his countenance. We are im- 
pressed with his grave dignity, his unconscious sincerity, 
the reverent awe his appearance and mind created, the pure- 
uess of his motives, the simple qualities of his patriotism. 
And as we feel the warm hlood pulse through our veins, 
the same strain of l)lood that flowed in the comrades of 
Washington, we greet him in the words of Light Horse 
Harry Lee, as " first in war, first in peace, and first in the 
hearts of his countrymen ! " 



